Fund Your Greener Future

Expand the horizons of sustainable innovation with Environmental Impact Bonds.

Building the future of sustainability.

The City of Atlanta was recently selected as the first City to pioneer publicly-offered Environmental Impact Bonds (EIBs), supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. Atlanta will work with Neighborly and impact analysis experts Quantified Ventures
to structure, market and underwrite these financings. Services by both firms will be offered at no cost to the City. Learn more about the upcoming issuance in Atlanta.

EIB public offerings are new and subject to change. Applicants should expect to review terms and conditions in advance of the application and before any offering is made.

What is an Environmental Impact Bond?

An Environmental Impact Bond enables governments to use a Pay for Success (PFS) approach to help fund social, health or environmental outcomes by sharing performance risks with private investors. This innovative financing tool provides up-front capital to pilot new approaches whose performance is viewed as uncertain or to scale up solutions that have been tested on a small scale. By structuring this transaction as a bond, municipalities can empower investors to have a stake in a successful outcome of the project or to share some of the downside risk if it is less successful at achieving its intended outcome.

An Environmental Impact Bond could finance green infrastructure projects, which use vegetation, soils and other natural elements to restore and mimic the natural water cycle, to prevent runoff and contamination. Beyond green infrastructure, EIBs can fund other projects that help build more resilient communities, such as microgrids, affordable housing, waste reduction and disaster preparedness.

Green roofs

Chicago, IL

On top of City Hall, in the heart of Chicago’s urban jungle, exists a 21,000 square foot green roof that captures stormwater and helps cool the neighborhood. After a summer heat wave claimed the lives of a number of residents, the city looked for solutions to reduce the "urban heat island" effect, which is caused by heat being absorbed by modified urban surfaces.Image source: Joe Wolf

Urban tree canopies

San Francisco, CA

Having one of the most sparse canopies of any large city, San Francisco recently released an "Urban Forest Plan" which aims to increase tree canopies and create a more equitable distribution of greening throughout the city. In 2016, voters also passed Proposition E, which shifted the ownership of many street trees back to the city, which will enable a more collective effort to build urban tree canopies.

Green streets and alleyways

Seattle, WA

Green stormwater infrastructure projects in Seattle are focused around creek basins aimed to protect them from the polluting effects of stormwater. The High Point natural drainage system features the largest natural drainage project undertaken by the city, using features such as swales to capture and filter stormwater.

Affordable housing

Atlanta, GA

Residents of Atlanta are proud of the city's BeltLine, a former railway corridor that's now a 33-mile network of multi-use trails encircling the core of the city. The trail system was designed to improve mobility, encourage green space and promote development. Atlanta's mayor says the next priority for BeltLine development is the creation of affordable housing in the region, a challenge that EIBs might be able to solve.

Hurricane preparedness

Norfolk, VA

As a coastal city, Norfolk has learned to live with the water, even recently soliciting the help of the Dutch to do so. Hurricanes, however, continue to periodically wreak havoc on the city. Recent storm damage replenishment projects, undertaken by the Norfolk District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, using sand to create additional barriers between homes and the shoreline, are designed to reduce storm damage and mitigate erosion. Similar pilot projects to prepare for increasingly devastating storms may benefit from an EIB.

Microgrids

Berkeley, CA

Berkeley is designing a microgrid to simultaneously provide a clean energy source to downtown facilities and build resilience during power outages. The project has received a $1.5 million grant that will enable Berkeley to take a modular approach, building and improving upon the microgrid over time. Once the microgrid has been tested, Berkeley may be able to use Environmental Impact Bonds to scale the project.

Potential benefits of resilience projects

At scale, in a city or community, substantial investments in green infrastructure and other resilience projects can accomplish the following:

Protectdrinking water

Providecleaner air

Increasenatural habitats

Mitigateflood risks

Create economicopportunity

Increaseequity

Saveenergy

Case Study: DC Water

The nation’s first Environmental Impact Bond.

In 2016, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) issued the inaugural Environmental Impact Bond, marking the world’s first Pay For Success project focused on the environmental sector.

With the release of the Request for Proposals, Neighborly and Quantified Ventures will host a webinar to introduce the project and answer questions from interested municipalities and water authorities.

Municipalities and water authorities selected

Municipalities and water authorities selected

Winter 2017

Following an initial evaluation, interviews, site visits and a final evaluation, two municipalities or water authorities will be selected to work with Neighborly and Quantified Ventures to issue Environmental Impact Bonds.

Feasibility study begins

Feasibility study begins

Early Spring 2018

Quantified Ventures will work closely with the two municipalities or water authorities to confirm the work plan, define and prioritize expected outcomes and build an economic model.

Evaluation plan begins

Evaluation plan begins

Late Spring 2018

Neighborly and Quantified Ventures will work with the two water authorities to design an evaluation plan, market the deal to investors and structure the transaction.

Interested in financing your next project with Neighborly?

This material is provided solely as a matter of possible interest. The information provided is not intended to be and should not be construed as "advice" under Section 15B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or the municipal advisory rules of the SEC and MSRB. Neighborly Corporation, a Delaware corporation and its wholly-owned broker-dealer Neighborly Securities("Neighborly"), is acting for its own account. Neighborly is not a municipal advisor, financial advisor or agent and has no advisory, agency, or fiduciary duty to any person pursuant to Section 15B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 975 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.